The next foundational principle that one needs to know with regards to worship is that obligatory actions are greater and better than the voluntary acts.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah RA who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said: Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have obligated upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him.
(Saheeh Bukhari)
Allah is saying that the most beloved actions through which a person can get close to Him are the obligatory acts. The voluntary acts are built on this base, which in turn strengthens the bond between you and Allah.
The reason this principle is being pointed out is that many a time, people do voluntary deeds by forsaking the obligatory actions. This is a complete wrong way to go about in worship.
The scholars say,
مَنْ شَغَلَهُ الْفَرْضُ عَنِ النَّفْلِ فَهُوَ مَعْذُورٌ وَمَنْ شَغَلَهُ النَّفْلُ عَنِ الْفَرْضِ فَهُوَ مَغْرُورٌ
Whoever preoccupied himself in obligatory actions and fell short in voluntary acts is excused. And whoever preoccupied himself in voluntary actions and fell short in obligatory actions is deceived.
Why?
Because he is preoccupied with something that is lower by neglecting the higher. It shows that he does not have a true understanding of the religion and what it requires.
Thus, we find some people in the month of Ramadhan pray Taraawih prayers while not fasting. Or they are fasting while not praying Salaah.
Even though both fasting and Salaah are obligatory, there is a hierarchy even in this. Salaah is greater than fasting. Consequently, Ibn Al Qayyim, the distinguished scholar, states that one of the greatest fiqh a person can have is to be able to look at two ibadaat (worship) and determine which one is better than the other.
So, when you have an obligatory action and voluntary act on hand, always give precedence to the obligatory. Once you have fulfilled the obligatory ones, you can think about doing the voluntary acts.
However, we must also remember to not overlook voluntary actions. Dismissing voluntary actions by only sticking to the obligatory ones is the biggest pitfall a person can fall into, because we never know which of our obligatory actions may be lacking. If we have the voluntary actions under our belt, it will compensate for the shortcomings of our obligatory acts.
Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "The first action for which a servant of Allah will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection will be his Salaah. If they are in order, he will have prospered and succeeded. If they are lacking, he will have failed and lost. If there is something defective in his obligatory Salaah, then the Almighty Lord will say: See if my servant has any voluntary Salaah that can complete what is insufficient in his obligatory Salaah. The rest of his deeds will be judged the same way."
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi 413, authenticated by Al Albani)
Therefore, obligatory actions should be our topmost priority while also not losing focus on voluntary acts.
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A Guide to Best Worship Allah
Non-FictionWe all want to worship our Lord. The one who created us, fed us, nourished us and nurtured us with such generosity, that enumerating it with our limited minds and words is next to impossible. The least we can do is give in our best. Strive to please...
